News about heaven
Children's sermon
Object:
pictures of some adult members when they were children, including some of yourself
Good morning, boys and girls. How does God think of us today? When God thinks about you and me, what do you think he has in mind? (let them answer) Maybe this is a better question. When God thinks of our choir director, does he think of him as Mr. _________ or Uncle _________ or ___________'s husband? (let them answer)
How do you think we will look when we go to heaven? (let them answer) Will we all have beards, white hair, and beautiful lips? (let them answer) If you wanted to know the answer to those questions, where would you look to find them? (let them answer)
You think I could find the answers in the Bible. In 1 John the Bible says something like this, "We are God's children now." I thought a lot about this and so I asked a few of our members to stand up here with me and bring with them some pictures of how they looked when they were children. (ask the members to come forward and stand beside you)
Here is Mr. ___________. We all know what he looks like today, but we want to know what God thinks he looks like, so I asked him to bring me a picture of himself when he was a child. (hold up his picture beside him) Maybe God would know him a little better if he carried this picture around with him.
Here is Mrs. ____________. Let's see how she looked when she was a child. Do you think she should carry her picture so God will know who she is? (let them answer)
Finally, I asked one of our older members to bring a picture of how he looked when he was a child. Mr. ___________, did you bring a picture? Good, let's see how you looked when you were a child. (hold up his picture) These are great pictures and people surely do change, don't they?
Aren't you glad you don't have to carry a picture with you? God calls us his children because he wants all of us to know that we are part of his family and we call him Father. Jesus is the Son, which makes all of us brothers and sisters of Jesus.
But the Bible teaches us that we will not find out what we really are going to be like until we are all with God in heaven. It also says that no one knows what we will look like when we share heaven with God, but that we will be like him and we will see him.
How do you think we will look when we go to heaven? (let them answer) Will we all have beards, white hair, and beautiful lips? (let them answer) If you wanted to know the answer to those questions, where would you look to find them? (let them answer)
You think I could find the answers in the Bible. In 1 John the Bible says something like this, "We are God's children now." I thought a lot about this and so I asked a few of our members to stand up here with me and bring with them some pictures of how they looked when they were children. (ask the members to come forward and stand beside you)
Here is Mr. ___________. We all know what he looks like today, but we want to know what God thinks he looks like, so I asked him to bring me a picture of himself when he was a child. (hold up his picture beside him) Maybe God would know him a little better if he carried this picture around with him.
Here is Mrs. ____________. Let's see how she looked when she was a child. Do you think she should carry her picture so God will know who she is? (let them answer)
Finally, I asked one of our older members to bring a picture of how he looked when he was a child. Mr. ___________, did you bring a picture? Good, let's see how you looked when you were a child. (hold up his picture) These are great pictures and people surely do change, don't they?
Aren't you glad you don't have to carry a picture with you? God calls us his children because he wants all of us to know that we are part of his family and we call him Father. Jesus is the Son, which makes all of us brothers and sisters of Jesus.
But the Bible teaches us that we will not find out what we really are going to be like until we are all with God in heaven. It also says that no one knows what we will look like when we share heaven with God, but that we will be like him and we will see him.
